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Inafune explains Capcom's Xbox 360 push

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Mar 3, 2009 11:50 am PT

Publisher's managing director says controversial support for Microsoft's console was necessary to find success in the West.

The Xbox 360 is consistently outperformed by the Wii and PlayStation 3 in Capcom's native Japan, but its popularity in the West is undeniable. According to managing executive Keiji Inafune, it was this fact that led Capcom to heavily support Microsoft's console with timed exclusives such as Dead Rising and Lost Planet, as well as multiplatform efforts such as Devil May Cry 4.

Keiji Inafune

"I think I can only get away with saying this now, but I really thought that using the Xbox was the only way to break into overseas markets, and I took that hypothesis all the way," said Inafune. "In the end, I am very happy that I did so." Inafune's comments came by way of an internal interview posted today to the publisher's official Web site.

One of the more dramatic controversies of 2007 was Capcom's decision to abandon PlayStation exclusivity for its Devil May Cry franchise. The move inspired many an irate PS3 owner to flood the publisher's official forums with messages decrying the decision, with more than 10,000 gamers signing an online petition pledging to boycott future Capcom games. In the end, however, the strong blowback was for naught, and DMC4 went on to achieve multiplatinum sales shortly after its release. The game was later released for the PC.

Though Capcom initially released both Dead Rising and Lost Planet as console exclusives for the Xbox 360, they have subsequently been ported to other systems. A year on from its initial showing on the Xbox 360 and PC, Lost Planet was ported to the PS3. Two and a half years after its debut on Microsoft's console, the paired-down Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop arrived for the Wii.

Capcom is currently working on both Dead Rising 2 and Lost Planet 2. However, unlike their predecessors, both games have reportedly been slated from the beginning as multiconsole efforts.

266 Comments

  • Seth_rules

    Posted May 27, 2009 9:19 pm PT

    Dante's Inferno is not related to any of the Devil May Cry games. It's not even a Capcom game.

  • meor64

    Posted May 4, 2009 7:57 pm PT

    wooo!!

    Dante's Inferno!!!coming soon!!

    but...2010 D:

  • Castlevania

    Posted Apr 25, 2009 1:31 am PT

    i can not wait til this game comes out. THE best online multiplayer game. Up there with the big dogs; Gears, Rainbow Sixs, and Halos.

  • meor64

    Posted Apr 14, 2009 11:29 pm PT

    I hate PS3 lol....no pirate games...

    DMC4...huh....! love this game...but graphic...

    D:

  • senses_fail187

    Posted Mar 31, 2009 7:32 pm PT

    So excited for this game. Any clue for a release date?

  • DeadRisingPlaya

    Posted Mar 22, 2009 11:36 am PT

    I hope they make dead rising 2 sooner.

  • rohail88

    Posted Mar 20, 2009 5:58 am PT

    I hope Devil May Cry 5 is PS3 Exclusive...

  • TreyTable

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 5:52 pm PT

    @ Arcelonious

    Both Burnout Paradise and Grand Theft Auto 4 had the PS3 as lead SKU. Explain why each game can fit on a single DVD. The vreal reason why the PS3 has had a slow start was because the hardware cost too damn much. All PS3 Blu-ray Disc based games require a hard drive in a PS3 to play, whereas no 360 game need the hard drive to play (aside from online play). The Blu-ray Disc format isn't really being underused since developers have to load it up with redundant data to take into account the PS3's 2X read time of the Blu-ray Disc (over the 12X read time of the XBOX 360's DVD). Honestly, I'd love to own both a PS3 and 360, but these days owning a PS3 is Not Economically Viable.

  • arcelonious

    Posted Mar 8, 2009 4:49 pm PT

    @ Kaneada

    I agree. the PS3 has definitely had an extremely slow start in this current console race. One important reason is that many game developers have yet to utilize the full capacity of the PS3 and it's blu-ray technology.

    When developers create multiplatform games, they generally have to make them so that they can be played by both systems, which means that the game cannot contain more than what a 360 disc can handle, resulting in much of the PS3 version of the game's blu-ray disc being unused.

    We haven't seen very many multiplatform games that have been designed initially for the PS3 technology and then brought to the 360, with the exception of Final Fantasy XIII and Tekken 6, both of which have yet to be released.

    For the PS3 to be more successful, I think there would have to be an increase in the amount of game developers willing to create games solely for blu-ray capacity, which is definitely a risky venture, because they limit their profits by not making the game compatible with the 360. Right now, there have only been a few companies willing to do that, but really, who can blame them, there's much more money in going multiplatform, and these are rough times we are in.

  • Kaneada

    Posted Mar 7, 2009 8:25 am PT

    I think with the PS3 starting to go into it's stride we are going to see many more multiplatform releases minus the timed exclusive. It's going to be a race to the finish with the PS3 struggling to bridge gaps in sales. (Am a proud PS3 owner by the way.)

    This whole situation is very reminiscent of the SNES/Genesis era, where the SNES was doing well, but not near well enough because of the Genesis's massive head start and popularity at the time. (was a huge fan of both systems.)

    I think though as the system and storage of the PS3 becomes both easier to develop for and necessary we will start seeing more developers turn to the PS3 with the Xbox 360 becoming a less valued asset.

    Games like MGS 4 and Killzone 2 have proven that the PS3 can be beyond graphically competitive, so the only real issue here is demand for the system which is nearly half that of the Xbox at least partially due to price tag.

    I think the real deal breaker for MS is going to come next year with the release of FFXIII which based on the Japanese technical specs is going to be a massive game (storage wise.) I think the PS3 will end up edging out 360 on performance and Final Fantasy players will help raise support for Sony a bit.

  • X_CAPCOM_X

    Posted Mar 6, 2009 3:54 pm PT

    So in order to push sales in the west, you had to exclude half of your fans in the west? What kind of retarded logic is that?

  • JackHoleFace00

    Posted Mar 5, 2009 10:31 am PT

    Of course it's about money. This is a business, people! What did you think it was?! As a PS3 owner, I can't say I'm happy about it, but I also can't blame them one bit.

    I will say, however, that I don't know what this means moving forward. If systems are going to have about the same hardware (not including the worthless Wii), and have the same games (again, not worthless Wii games like "Jelly Belly Ballistic Beans" and "Smiley World Island Challenge"--btw I'm not making those names up), what's the point of having different systems? They might as well just merge and come out with one system (I don't actually want that to happen I'm just saying).

  • flyingteddy

    Posted Mar 5, 2009 2:06 am PT

    dont mind multi platform option but why timed exclusives

  • tidyspidey

    Posted Mar 5, 2009 12:16 am PT

    It never ceases to amuse me to think just how incredibly sad those 10,000 people were that signed the petition to boycott Capcom games because their precious Devil May Cry made it onto another console... as though those few that have Sony blood in their veins truly thought they owned that, or any other game!?

    I'm smart enough to appreciate all consoles and just find it hilarious any time I read stuff like that.... as annoying as fanboys are, they're also damn funny too

  • ninjasRmammals2

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 11:13 pm PT

    Back @ MassacreMonk

    My beef isn't with your choice in consoles just your seeming fixation on exclusive games somehow being superior to multiplatform games for the simple reason that they are exclusive to a single console. I don't care that you have a PS3, if it was released sooner I'd most likely have one as well. Also, I'm glad you at least look at multiple reviews before bashing a game. I just don't like how you point your finger at a game with a 6.5 as your example of a bad 360 exclusive. That doesn't make the game bad, it's just not great. That's why i don't like the numerical value system in reviews. Any game that doesn't get over an 8 seems to get flamed into oblivion when they are still enjoyable. What you should be pointing at instead of Halo Wars is Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad. With a 2.5 I wouldn't even be able to argue with you about that abortion of a game.

  • MassacreMonk

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 6:04 pm PT

    @ninjasRmammals2

    I have tons of Multiplat games. I obviously don't own an xbox because frankly I wasn't raised by no fool I'm j/k calm down. My game collection is neither small nor sad. Yes I rely on game reviews why wouldn't you, that's what they are there for. So I can base my own options off that review rather spending my money or even renting it for that fact. I base my views on more then one website, so its set in sold stone. "Yeah this games a piece of feculence. I'm not buying!" Some don't have the time or money to be playing games all the time anymore. So they have to be choosy.

    Anyways I WILL, enjoy my Resistance and MGS4 with my LittleBigPlanet with a side order of Killzone 2. The after that I'll wait for God of War 3, then the forecast predicts some Heavy Rain. I might be walking into some Uncharted territory here but doesn't inFAMOUS come out this year as well?

  • apalaha

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 5:55 pm PT

    Devil may cry 4 in Ps2. When?

  • cube-gage

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 4:31 pm PT

    I think only first party games should be exclusive.

  • Jonesy914

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 3:44 pm PT

    In the end, it was a smart move by capcom...and it's even smarter to release the latest two games on multi-platforms!

  • jtthegame316

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 3:02 pm PT

    Capcom you don't need to explain to fanboys where you are supporting the apposing machine to what the fanboy likes. the xbox has done well in america and in europe where i am so it is obvious a third party like yourslef should want a part of that sucess. fanboys that moaned about devil may cry going to 360 should remember that capcom is a third party and a third party should not side with anyone

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